Notes

I have a strange love for doing all types of volunteer work whether it is for my Church, school, or even camps. I have done multiple different things including teaching, photographing, or helping the coaches.
The most prominent volunteer activity that I would like to highlight is my role as a manager for my school’s cross country team. Carnegie Vanguard’s team consists of over 40 students, led by two coaches. Most recently, one of our coaches had to withdraw because she needed to go on pregnancy leave. This is where I volunteered to step in and try to help out our coach however I can. Even if it is just making her laugh when she is overstressed or helping lead practice, I try to find a way to help ease the amount of stress and pressure on her.
I love to apply what I learned in my photography classes to take pictures of our runners and coaches so that I can share them on the school's social media platforms. I also make sure to record the times for each runner, in addition to being one of our loudest cheerleaders and supporters at the events. Although I only became the manager this year, my only regret is that I didn’t sign up for this earlier. With that being said, I never officially signed up, our coach, of whom I have a close relationship with, came up to me one day last year when my best friend and I were hanging out in her room, as we always do, and asked if we did anything on Saturday mornings during the months of September and October. Without giving us any chance to reply she became excited and congratulated both of us on becoming “the new and improved Carnegie Vanguard Cross Country Managers.” At the time we laughed and just accepted it, but
at the time, I did not know how much of an influence this experience would have on me. Unfortunately, my friend was not able to go to the meets on Saturdays, nor attend the
practices, but she continues to help in other ways. This means I do most of the physical work that I explained earlier. I did not know how much I enjoyed this role until I thought about the fact that I wake up at 4 every Saturday morning, without complaining, to go support kids running.
I have been asked many times why I do this work when I don't get paid for it or anything, and I think about the runners and our coach. They have been so supportive and thankful for everything I do. One of my favorite moments would definitely be a moment when, in one of the drills, the runners had to sprint up a hill. I am not a runner, and I do not enjoy running in any way, shape, or form, but I had the craziest idea in that moment. I decided that once they got to the hill I was going to race them. Once they turned the corner, we were off. The only two things I heard were all of the other runners who were recovering, from this same workout, yelling my name to keep going as fast as I could and the sound of the girl’s footsteps behind me. I ended up beating her to the top, out of breath, but excited and greeted by high fives and cheers from everyone at the top of the hill.
Seeing the roles reversed and having everyone encourage me was an amazing feeling that helped me realized that maybe I do have an effect on these kids and I am not just doing random work that may or may not make an impact. My role in being part of the cross country team has had a bigger effect on me than I could have imagined.